Kelly: Gabby stared down Loughner

Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords “locked” eyes with convicted killer Jared Lee Loughner — the man who shot her nearly two years ago — during his sentencing hearing in a Tucson courthouse, her husband, Mark Kelly, said Friday.

“Inside the courtroom, it was pretty comfortable until the moment that he walked in and then it was pretty intense to be sitting just probably about 30 feet from where Jared Loughner was,” Kelly said Friday on NBC’s “The Today Show.” “Gabby was sitting up in her chair and sitting up straight, spent a lot of time looking at him. It was the first time she really had ever seen him.”

Story Continued Below

“Gabby’s eyes were locked on his the entire time as I read our statement. I kept looking up and his expression would change. He was paying attention to what we were saying,” Kelly, an astronaut, told NBC. “He wasn’t really happy at points, and I almost felt like during that whole few minutes that he and Gabby were having quite the staring contest.”

Kelly added of his wife attending the hearing, “This was something we’ve been thinking about for the last month. Before that, she wasn’t really interested in attending, but about a month ago she changed her mind and thought it would be a good idea for her to be there to get some sense of resolution to what happened.”

Kelly read a statement in the courtroom Thursday, during which Kelly said Giffords looked directly at Loughner, who pleaded guilty to charges in connection with killing six and injuring others, including Giffords, in Tucson in January 2011. Loughner, 24, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Kelly said that Giffords is continuing to recover and that her walking has improved “a little,” with most notable improvements in her communication skills.

During his statement in court Thursday, Kelly criticized GOP Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer and other politicians for not doing enough on gun laws. He reiterated those statements Friday to NBC.

“We have a Congress that could address it as well. We’ve got state legislatures, governors. This is obviously a problem. I mean, we have gun violence that happens time and time again in this country. I think almost everybody would agree that we have a problem,” Kelly said.

He added: “We’ve got very smart people and we’ve got committed legislators, you know, that can work on the issue and it should be worked on. I think, you know, repeatedly we lost the opportunity, and I hope somebody picks up that mantle and tries to do something about it.”